Invest in or scrap car

Acey10

Hi, just looking for some advice as I have no clue about cars and no one I could ask for help. I have an 04 Toyota Yaris the last 8 years, it's due nct in 2 weeks. I've had a mechanic look over it, one thing will definitely fail and cost about 40 to fix, there's things that could fail adding up to about 500 euro. He said best thing to do was put it through and see what happens.

I'm trying to decide if it does fail and need lots of work is it worth the money or should I just cut my losses and move on?
My insurance expires two weeks after nct, I'm starting to panic as I can't be without the car and if I am looking to get a car I need to sort out finances etc...

Any advice would be welcome.

Isambard

well you could scrap your car but what could you afford to replace it? What you buy could be worse than what you have and will cost more than €500 up front.

doolox

It all depends on the history and condition of the car.

You need to get the NCT done as it is the cheapest test of a car going. Do it as soon as possible. You can NCT up to three months before NCT expiry and this is advisable now because expired NCT can lead to car seizure by the Guards.

Get an estimate of the value of the car. If you have had the car since new and have looked after it then it should be easy to estimate the possibility of future problems happening. Well serviced Toyotas, properly looked after and cleaned and driven steadily on good roads should be good even after 15 years.Problems happen with coastal driven cars on rural roads with potholes etc.which can lead to salt corrosion and body and suspension problems quicker than happens in city cars in inland areas. Your prevailing driving environment matters in these older cars. An honest and good mechanic should be able to advise you on this. Seek advice from an independent mechanic and not a car sales garage who could have a vested interest in steering you to newer car and run down your car in order to frighten you into a sale....

The problem comes with big repairs such as gearboxes, engines etc which can cost thousands and may exceed the actual value of the car.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

Recent experience has shown me that garage labour now runs at €90 per hour so repairing is not cheap.

uncle_sam_ie

I agree with the mechanic. Put it through and see what it will cost you. Those cars were well built so, it could still be be worth fixing it in the end.

Atlantic Dawn

Without an NCT it's worth about €150, put it through the NCT and see what comes up.

With older cars it's well worth getting it through 2 or 3 months before due date, this gives you time to fix any issues or decide to cut loose and source another car, leaving it down to the wire leaves you in a panic situation where your likely to have to spend more money.

w211

Only you know what are done and what are not by your car. This car are the age where it need to replace many things and if you can not to do it yourself, it will cost too much money. 15 years old car you need to replace almost the all seals even if car was not driven at all. This age cars are for DIY car owners or rich people.

EDIT: Before you invest any euro to that car, please check the engine condition. Make a compression test, it takes only short time. If the numbers are too low or too different by each other just scrap the car.

beauf

Put it though early and see.

Your backup is to hire a car for a few weeks.

1874

whats the 40 euro part that will fail? why not get that done and then put it through, maybe it will pass then?
I put 550 into an 01 car, some repair work and a service and the car has so far driven on for another 2.5 years, (its been service since and had tyres, so small spend ongoing like any car) so it must have been about a 15 yo car then, and it will probably go longer too if something doesnt go or get noticed. I knew the timing belt was done and I would have to spend a lot more than 550 to get a better car.
Could be worth getting the other stuff done for 500, given half the cost might be for labour, really its only 250 quids worth of work, what is that stuff?

Acey10

Thanks for all the input, unfortunately I wasn't thinking and should have Booker earlier. I didn't get a written list of the problems, in hindsight I should have. He mentioned the brake pads were rusty, oil leaking somewhere, headlights were off, something was torn in the back of the car....

I might get the 40 euro one fixed and put it through.

I haven't got it since new but ive only done about 35000 miles since I've had it and get it serviced every year.

Thanks again, as you can tell I haven't a clue.